National Unity 1980: A John Anderson Presidency

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter 1: The Entrance of the Maverick

"There is no doubt that John Anderson's campaign has influenced my strategy in New Hampshire,"-John McCain during an interview in 2000.

When John Anderson entered the race it was not with a splash, but a drip. Despite being well known for his independent streak and pragmatic approach in Congress, he was virtually unknown to the American public. This, however, was not the biggest obstacle he faced in his campaign to secure the Republican nomination. The main issue was that he was a Liberal Republican, a dying breed who were increasingly at odds with the conservative and southern-oriented direction of the party. The clock had been ticking for them ever since 1964 when the popular New York Nelson Rockefeller had been defeated by senator Barry Goldwater who openly advocated for the use of nukes in Vietnam and the partial privatization of Social Security. It had been ticking ever faster since the rise of Ronald Reagan and the end of the Nixon presidency. It had taken the united effort of the Republican establishment to stop Reagan from overthrowing an incumbent president, Gerald Ford in 1976 and now it seemed as though Reagan was destined to be the nominee. To make matters worse he did not even have the support of the majority of Liberal Republicans, a small minority in the party. They remained undecided as Lowell Weicker and Howard Baker announced their candidacies and as speculation mounted that Charles Percy, Charles Mathias, or even Gerald Ford might run to take up the mantle of the Rockefeller Republicans. His poll numbers remained dismal throughout 1979, peaking in July at 3% and declining in November to 0%. But Anderson carried on undeterred. Quickly realizing that he had no shot of even making a decent showing in Iowa he focused all his resources in New Hampshire. He would let Reagan sweep the first few contests before garnering a second place win in the granite state establishing himself as the main opponent of Reagan. He still remained confident that the voters would choose him an honest and effective legislator over an aging B movie actor. It would have helped if he had the charisma of some of the other candidates like Connally and Reagan or a large war-chest like Bush, yet he had neither. But he had something which was especially suited for the famously independent granite state, uniqueness. Unlike any of the other candidates in the race he would not pander to voters and tell them what they wanted to hear, in fact he often did the opposite. He would draw the ire of a crowd of gun owners by advocating gun control in a speech he gave to them as well as many other groups of voters who did not like what he had to say in other speeches. Yet this strategy was oddly starting to work. Initially met with apathy by the voters of New Hampshire, they soon started to warm up to him. While his policy proposals were not universally popular he gathered more and more support in the state with his moderate politics and use of "Straight Talk." By the beginning of the New Year it seemed he had a strong base of support in the state which would only increase as Weicker dropped out and Percy, Mathias, and most importantly Ford announced they weren't running. As he campaigned he also spent a great deal of time prepping for the first Republican debate between the different candidates in Iowa. He doubled down on his maverick persona in front of a national audience while he directed a few attacks at the absent Reagan who had decided to skip the debate. While the most memorable candidates in the debate were Connally with his Texas charm and Dole with his one liners, Anderson's performance in the debate was well received, further increasing his polling numbers and name recognition . Everything continued as expected for Anderson and it seemed as though things were progressing well for him. However, everything changed on January 21st, the day of the Iowa Caucasus.

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter 2: Iowa and New Hampshire

"I got the big mo!" George Bush on the night of the Iowa Caucus.

(Bush celebrating in Des Moines)

As Anderson sat watching the results return from Iowa, he didn't know what to make of it. The unthinkable has happened. Reagan had lost. Not to Dole, Connally, or Baker, but to George Bush. The former CIA director who embodied the East Coast Establishment that was so hated in rural America had beaten Ronald Reagan in sparsely populated Iowa 31 to 29 percent with Baker coming in 3rd with 15 percent, Connally in fourth with 9 percent, Crane in fifth with 6 percent, and Anderson in sixth place with 5 percent edging out Dole who came in dead last with barley over a percent of the vote. On the one hand, Anderson was relieved. Winning the Republican nomination against Reagan was always going to be an almost impossible challenge, but the fact that he had beaten in the first contest signified that he was not invulnerable. He could not help but secretly hope that his age and his performance in Iowa would derail his campaign and prevent the ultra-conservatives from taking over the party. On the other hand, there was George Bush. Anderson had just begun to acquire the support of liberal and moderate Republicans as he presented himself as the centrist alternative to Reagan. Then, suddenly Bush had derailed his whole strategy. He had been on the verge of getting the backing of several key figures in the party's progressive wing like Javits and Weicker, but now they remained neutral as a new more viable moderate candidate emerged. He knew things were getting bad when Pete McCloskey, a Republican even more liberal than he was endorsed Bush just a few days after the caucus. He knew that if he was to remain viable in the race he would have to go on the attack. He would travel tirelessly across New Hampshire giving his usual message of straight talk and common sense while mixing in attacks against Reagan, which amounted to calling him, "A man of good character, but of little substance," as well as deriding Bush with oddly conservative rhetoric, calling him, "An agent of the establishment who does not understand or experience the problems of every day Americans," as well as saying, "A vote for Bush is a vote for the status quo." By ignoring the other candidates, Anderson positioned himself as the common sense alternative to both Reagan and Bush, which he hoped would give him at least a third-place showing the state, enough to keep his candidacy alive. Luckily for him, an opportunity would soon present itself. After losing both Iowa and Puerto Rico to Bush, Reagan knew that he had to shake up the race to stay relevant. If he lost in New Hampshire his campaign would be finished. With the stakes in mind he and his campaign set to work for the next debate in Nashua, where they had a trick up their sleeve that would make Tricky Dick proud. The debate was scheduled just three days before the primaries and Bush and Reagan had agreed that the debate would be between just the two of them. But unbeknownst to Bush, Reagan had invited the rest of the candidates to the debate. When Bush arrived that night for the debate he was furious and tried to get Reagan to remove the other candidates and fulfill their deal, but Reagan refused and Bush reluctantly went to debate with the other candidates. Tricked and unprepared, he was in for a rough night as Reagan stole the spotlight and he looked weak in comparison. In an attempt to redirect the attention back towards himself, he would make a horrible gaff, saying that he was an outsider and a businessman who was different from the other politicians on the stage, a mistake Anderson would pounce on, his response while by no means the most remarkable of that night would still haunt Bush.

"Well if being an outsider involves being a part of a wealthy and politically connected family, serving at the highest levels of Congress and the State Department, as well as defending a politically disgraced president then yes Mr Bush is an outsider."

The attack against Bush for his association with President Nixon during his time at the head of the RNC came out of nowhere, and for a few seconds, he remained speechless. Then as he delivered a meandering defense of his role in Watergate, Reagan interrupted him, saying the second most famous line from the debate.

"If George Bush is an outsider then I'm as young as a spring chicken."

Reagan's remark at the expense of Bush prompted the other candidates to start laughing as many members of the audience joined in, while Bush sat there with a forced smile on his face. But the thing that people would remember most about the debate was its ending. The moderators had told all the candidates except Bush and Reagan to shorten their closing statements and when Reagan attempted to grant the other candidates equal speaking time the moderator had attempted to turn off Reagan's microphone. In a rage Reagan had stood up and proclaimed, "Mr. Green I am paying for these microphones!", drawing the applause of both the audience as well as the other candidates who stood up and clapped, even a humiliated Bush. By the end of the night, everyone knew that Reagan was going to win New Hampshire, the only question was who would come in second place. With Bush weakened, Anderson wasted no time pummeling him even him more. He received the added boost of an endorsement from Paul Newman the night after the debate who by no means was a conservative icon still brought more support and funding for the campaign. With large donations from Newman, he was able to buy critical ad space just days before the primary, which helped spread his message and attack Bush's campaign, after Anderson decided that it would be futile to try and bring down Reagan's support in the state.

(Paul Newman's endorsement of Anderson in a widely circulated ad would later be considered to be a decisive factor in his showing in New Hampshire)

In the lead-up to the primary Bush had tried his best to fend off attacks from both Reagan and Anderson as well as launch some of his own, yet these efforts would be in vain. Bush's disastrous performance in the debate had killed any chance he had of winning the primary. All he could hope for was that his defeat would not be a blowout. Realizing that Anderson was now his main competitor for second place in the state Bush and his campaign manager Jim Baker shifted most of their attacks on Anderson, yet it was too little too late and Bush would pay the price for ignoring Anderson's candidacy before the debate. On the night of February 26th as Anderson had spent his last day campaigning in Concord he knew his efforts in the state had paid off. It was clear early in the night that Reagan would win by at least fifteen points yet it was not so clear who would follow him as Anderson and Bush were neck and neck for most of the night. However, that changed when all the returns came in from the college towns of Nassau and Manchester where Anderson had spent so much time speaking to the city's young people. By midnight the results had come in. Reagan had won with 45 percent of the vote, and in second place was John Anderson. Once polling at 0 percent he had managed to capture twenty-four percent of the primary vote. Bush came in third place with 17 percent of the vote, trailing Anderson by seven points. In fourth place was Howard Baker who dropped out of the race the following day after receiving just 7 percent of the vote. As Anderson conceded the race to Reagan he could barely contain his excitement as he thanked his supporters and promised them that they would win the upcoming primaries in Vermont and Massachusetts. After giving a considerably less enthusiastic concession speech Bush and Jim Baker considered their options and reevaluated their strategy for the upcoming contests. Bush normally slow to anger raged privately in front of Baker. Anderson had thrown a wrench in his plans and now the path to the nomination would be much more daunting.

(Anderson following his upset second place showing in New Hampshire)

 

[Fighting Bob]

Next Time:
While Reagan, Bush, and Anderson were busy focusing on their successes and failures in Iowa and New Hampshire, another candidate was watching in amusement. As the three men continued to fight and bloody themselves like hogs, this man had spent his time charming everyone he could, gaining endorsements, and wheeling and dealing in a state he knew so well. Events were about to take an interesting turn south of the Mason-Dixon line.

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter 3: The State of Thurmond

"Governor Reagan and I both used to be Democrats but let me tell you, there's a big difference between being a Democrat from Texas and being a Democrat from Hollywood,"-John Connolly speaking at a campaign stop.

(Connolly giving a speech in Charleston)

There was one notable absence from the debate in Nassau, the former governor of Texas and the former Secretary of the Treasury John Connolly hadn't even been in New Hampshire that night. He had caught wind of Reagan's trick and had declined to show up, not wanting Reagan to steal all the spotlight away from him. Nonetheless, it had still been an enjoyable spectacle for Connolly as he watched it unfold from his campaign headquarters. While he didn't care much for Reagan, it had still been entertaining to watch Bush get clobbered on national television. The mutual hatred between him and Bush had gone back to 1964 when Bush had tried to run for a senate seat in Texas while he had been the state's Democratic governor and it had only intensified since the 70s when Connolly had become a Republican and the two had fought for control of the states GOP. He resented Bush since while he had to work his way up to power as an aide of LBJ in the Senate, Bush had bought his way into politics with the wealth from his father who was a well-known senator from Connecticut. He thought Bush was weak and couldn't hide his pleasure as his opinion about the man was proven correct to the nation. He had been almost as jubilant as his rival came in third in New Hampshire behind a guy who almost nobody had heard of. While he was normally a realist, he had been incredibly optimistic since the New Year had started and he had good reason to be. While the other candidates had been duking it out in Iowa and New Hampshire, Connolly had been touring the state of South Carolina for months. Apart from a few visits to DC and New York for fundraisers and a few token appearances in Iowa, he had been locked in the state, visiting the states 46 counties multiple times over. His strategy in many ways was quite similar to Anderson's in New Hampshire, but there was one crucial difference between the two of them, people already knew who Connolly was. While it may have been advantageous for another candidate to be well known, it was not for Connolly. Many voters associated him with corruption during his tenure as Governor as well as with Watergate during his role in the Nixon administration. He had tried to turn his record into a positive by mentioning his leadership skills as well as establishing himself as the candidate with the strongest foreign policy platform earning him the nickname, "the Saudi's favorite candidate." But this had little effect on the race and Connolly quickly realized he would have to change his strategy as the race went on. Remembering the campaigns of his fellow Southerners Wallace and Maddox he settled on one. He would attack Reagan from the right. Originally many of his advisors were skeptical of this plan. Reagan was the hero of the Republican right and Connolly had only been a Republican for 8 years, but he went ahead with it. Luckily for him, he would have plenty of ammunition to attack Reagan with. During his time in California Reagan had signed into law the Mulford Act which prohibited carrying firearms in public. While created to weaken the Black Panther Party it was still gun control which was deeply unpopular among Republican voters in the state. Even more damaging for Reagan was the fact that he had signed an act that had eased abortion access just a few years before Roe V. Wade had been enacted which would hardly be welcome news to the state's substantial evangelical population. Connolly did everything he could to make sure that every potential Republican voter would hear about these acts before the day of the primary as he exaggerated them in ads that ran across the state along with Connolly also bringing up Reagan's past as a New Deal liberal. He would only be helped further by the endorsement of the titan of the state, Strom Thurmond who would appear with Connolly at rallies in Charleston and Columbia. By the time the New Hampshire primary had ended, and when Reagan was finally able to focus on South Carolina he discovered that Connolly had significantly outraised and outspent him in the state and had been drawing large amounts of conservative and religious voters away from him. With less than a week away from the primary Reagan desperately started hurling attacks against Connolly for his alleged corruption and for misrepresenting his record as well as defending his conservative credentials. However, during one campaign speech in Greenville one of his attacks against Connolly would completely backfire as he informed them that Connolly was giving a speech in Laurens which he claimed was, "The birthplace of the Ku Klux Klan." Not only was the town not the birthplace of the KKK, it angered many of the white voters of the state who hated being associated with their segregationist past by Northerners as well as those who sympathized with the Klan. Connolly quickly pounced on Reagan's error the next day.

"The notion that the people of this state are in any way associated with the klan is deeply insulting and I think Governor Reagan owes the people of South Carolina an apology."

Reagan's polling would drop dramatically following his comments and his once commanding lead in the state reduced even further. In a last-ditch effort to stop Connolly, a political operative from the Reagan campaign named Lee Atwater would attempt to plant a story that claimed that Connolly had tried to buy the African American vote. However, few of South Carolina's major newspapers would run the story believing it to be too absurd since Connolly had been doing the most dog-whistling of any national candidate since George Wallace in his bid for the White House in 1968. The story would have virtually no impact on the race and Connolly and Reagan remained neck and neck as neither Bush nor Anderson had any substantial support in the state as they focused all their efforts on the Massachusetts and Vermont primaries which took place a few days before. However, just a day before the primary Reagan's tentative lead in the state would come crashing down. After much prodding from Connolly, Thurmond agreed to appear in an ad where he attacked Reagan. He only spoke for a few seconds, but those few seconds would cost Reagan the state.

"Governor Reagan is a good, decent man who I respect immensely, however, this is not just an election about character. This is an election about leadership and consistency. When John Connolly was governor of Texas he opposed bills that would have implemented gun control and expanded abortion. Unfortunately, Mr. Reagan can not say the same."

The ad only aired once, but the damage was done. When the results came in Connolly won the state with 49 percent of the vote, followed by Reagan with 37 percent. Bush followed with 9 percent and Anderson came in last with 3 percent. Reagan had once been so confident following his comeback victory in New Hampshire, but now he realized the road to victory would be a long one.

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter 4: New England and the Deep South

"I am the only candidate who can beat Jimmy Carter while remaining true to Republican Values," George Bush speaking to supporters in Boston.

As the race continued, things went from bad to worse for George Bush. Once the frontrunner who had beaten Reagan, he was humiliated in a debate by the man who was 13 years his senior and had come in a distant third in a state he had a good shot at winning. The same newspapers that had compared him to Dwight D. Eisenhower and Reagan to Robert Taft in the 1952 race, now wrote off his candidacy and Anderson became the new darling of the press. But Bush remained determined as ever to stay in the race. As far as he was concerned the only reason he was doing so badly was because of Anderson. Bush was positive he could have gotten second in New Hampshire had it not been for that annoying congressman who had spent weeks attacking and running ads against him. He viewed him as nothing more than a spoiler who had stolen his campaign rhetoric about moderation and pragmatism and he was determined to prove that in the next contests, Vermont and Massachusetts. He had several advantages over Anderson. The first was that he was originally a native of New England before he had moved to Texas in his 20s and his family still had strong political connections in the region while Anderson was from the Midwest. He also had the backing of Eliot Richardson and Henry Cabot Lodge, two liberal republican legends in the state. With renewed confidence he wasted no time barnstorming both Vermont and Massachusetts as he doubled down on his attacks against Reagan and Anderson, the latter of whom the press noticed was targeted with special virulence. He attacked Reagan for being too conservative and unelectable while calling out Anderson for being too liberal and too similar to Carter. However, his attacks seemed to have little effect on Anderson whose support had continued to surge after New Hampshire. His message was especially popular in New England and his appeal as an outsider was enormous amid a bad economy and the Iranian hostage crisis. With less than a week till the two crisscrossed each of the states while Reagan only made a few appearances in Vermont and none in Massachusetts, doubting he could perform well in the state of Ted Kennedy. With Reagan largely a nonfactor Bush and Anderson spent most of their time attacking each other with Anderson constantly bringing up Bush's connection to Nixon and his establishment roots while Bush accused Anderson of being a Republican in name only which would lead him to quip, "What's the point of getting rid of Carter if you're just gonna replace him with another liberal?" He knew he would have to beat Anderson in at least one of the two states if he wanted to mount a comeback, but unfortunately for him, the results of the March 4th primary would be a disaster. Not only would Anderson would win in both states, but Bush would come in third in the contests.

Massachusetts primary
John Anderson-39%
Ronald Reagan-30%
George Bush-27%
John Connolly-3%

Vermont primary
John Anderson-43%
Ronald Reagan-32%
George Bush-23%
John Connolly-1%

His donors once so enthusiastic about his campaign following Iowa were now lukewarm at best to his campaign after he had come in third again against a liberal and a man who has barely campaigned. Many started jumping ship to the Reagan and Anderson campaigns. Many of his advisors urged him to drop out, even his son Jeb who said he should offer to join the Reagan campaign in getting a position in his cabinet. However Bush refused. He couldn't stomach the thought of either Reagan or Anderson becoming the nominee and he was confident that when Republican voters realized that their choices would either be those two they would support him as a compromise candidate. Even if he couldn't win outright he was sure he could win enough delegates to bargain with whoever the nominee might be.

"The only difference between George Bush and Ronald Reagan is that Reagan knows how to keep an audience awake for more than ten minutes," John Connolly, joking before a crowd in Montgomery.

To say that Connolly was becoming a thorn in Reagan's side would have been an understatement. Before Connolly's win in South Carolina, Reagan had expected an easy campaign in the South. The region had mostly voted for him over Ford in the 1976 election and as a result, he had taken the region's conservative and religious voters for granted as he had spent his time in Iowa and New Hampshire. A mistake he would pave for gravely on March 8th when he had lost South Carolina by twelve points. Now Connolly a man who didn't care at all about abortion or cultural issues was hammering Reagan over his actions as governor and threatened to derail his campaign just as Bush had in Iowa. Regrettably, for Reagan, there would be three consecutive southern primaries just three days after Connoly's win. Alabama, Georgia, and Flordia, just a few days earlier would have gone to Reagan easily but now they were up in the air. With little time to campaign Reagan focused almost all of his attention on Florida while sending surrogates to stump for him in Alabama and Georgia. Ironically Florida had been the only state that Reagan had lost in the last election, but he felt he had a better chance with the suburban voters of the state than in largely rural Georgia and Alabama. Connolly meanwhile spent a day in each state, hosting large rallies in Montgomery, Atlanta, and Miami where he continued to blast Reagan for his supposed social liberalism. Reagan meanwhile hit back at Connolly for his association with LBJ and the Great Society as well as his lack of fiscal conservatism saying, "Governor Connolly never met a tax increase or a welfare program he didn't like." With such little time to campaign the results of the primaries were up in the air up until the day of the primary. While not the major victory he received in South Carolina, Connolly was able to win both Georgia and Alabama and was just barely behind Reagan in Florida where Reagan's campaigning and appeal with suburbanites had paid off.

Alabama Primary
John Connally-44%
Ronald Reagan-40%
George Bush-12%
John Anderson-4%

Florida Primary
Ronald Reagan-38%
John Connolly-33%
George Bush-16%
John Anderson-12%

Georgia Primary
John Connolly-40%
Ronald Reagan-39%
George Bush-12%%
John Anderson-9%

While hardly the result that Reagan had hoped for, he was able to rest easy on the night of March 11th because he had at least won Florida. Even in Georgia and Alabama, the results had been far closer than in South Carolina and Reagan was confident that once voters saw through Connolly's blatant opportunism they would flock back to him. He could also rest in the knowledge that he had been the only candidate thus far in the Republican primary who had garnered support in both the North and the South and that despite several vicious blows thrown at him he had come out on top. Nancy however would not rest that night. She did not honestly think that Connolly, Anderson, or Bush could overtake her husband, but together they could draw enough votes to deadlock the convention and if that happened everything would be uncertain.

 

[Fighting Bob]

Next Time:

 

[Fighting Bob]

Announcement:
Hello everyone, sorry I am going on a trip so I won’t be able to write a new chapter until Friday probably. I’d be happy to read any thoughts or critiques anyone might have thus far regarding my writing or the timeline. Thanks.

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter 5: The Knight vs the Peanut Farmer

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die. My friends vote your conscious this November," Ted Kennedy speech at the Democratic convention in New York.

Jimmy Carter would have been celebrating the disunity and mudslinging in the Republican primaries if it were not for the fact that his party was even less united. With a stagnating economy, the energy crisis, and rising inflation the least he could have asked for was an easy path to the convention, but for Senator Ted Kennedy that was too much to ask. Ever since 1968 after his brother's assassination, there had been calls for Kennedy to run, but each time he had declined. This was not due to a lack of ambition, but rather to a single event that he felt would kill any national campaign he started. Ever since 1969 he had been haunted by Chappaquiddick where he had killed a female staffer in a drunk driving accident, and had refused calls to run in both 1972 and 1976, although he could have easily won the nomination in both those years. But in 1979 he changed his mind. Tired of Carter's fiscal conservatism and ineffectiveness he laid the groundwork for a presidential campaign. On October 29th a "Kennedy for President Committee," was formed and he became a candidate the same day, yet, he planned to hold off his official announcement until November 7th. However, he would be forced to make his announcement sooner following an interview with Roger Mudd on November 4. During the interview, Mudd asked him why he wanted to be president, a seemingly simple question that caught Kennedy off guard since he was planning to hold off his presidential announcement. Instead of trying to evade the question he explained why he was running for president after a brief pause.

"Well, I'm planning on running because I don't believe that President Carter is an effective leader of either the democratic party or the country. His economic policies differentiate very little from President Ford's and he has not handled our domestic problems or our oil shortage adequately and I think our party and our nation needs a more liberal and a more capable alternative to the President, and I think I am that alternative."

While his long pause was noticed by some the main story from the interview was his campaign announcement. Initially, polls showed Kennedy beating Carter by wide margins, with one polling showing him beating Carter 54 to 20 percent. He also started to pick up endorsements from many members of the party's liberal wing like Mo Udall and George McGovern as well as its labor wing receiving endorsements from the AFL-CIO and other prominent unions upset with Carter's lax record on organized labor. His lead continued through December and the beginning of January, however, events from the Middle East would soon change the dynamics of the race. After the fall of the pro-American Shah in Iran, an anti-American government formed in the country as the radical cleric Ayatollah Khomeini took over. Tensions grew worse as President Carter let the Shah into the country to receive medical care which led to an explosion of anti-American protests in Iran culminating in a group of students kidnapping the members of the American embassy on November 4. As the months went on Carter's approval ratings went up as he adopted as voters appreciated his calm handiling of the crisis. In the lead-up to the Iowa Caucuses Carter started to beat Kennedy in the polls for the first time which tempted Kennedy to attack Carter's actions during the hostage crisis, however, he decided agaisnt it realizing that it could only hurt him. Instead, he attacked Carter on domestic issues like his failure to advocate more strongly for the ERA and his use of Taft-Hartly during a coal miners' strike in West Virginia. However, this wouldn't be enough as Kennedy was soundly defeated in Iowa with Kennedy receiving 35 percent to Carter's 51 percent. The race would only get worse for Kennedy in February as he lost Minnesota and in his backyard, New Hampshire, only narrowly winning in Maine. In early March Carter would sweep most of the contests while Kennedy would only win in his native Massachusetts and Puerto Rico. However, in late March things would improve for Kennedy as he won both New York and Connecticut due to a high amount of support from Jewish and African American supporters. After his victories, things would start to turn back towards his favor as people started to become impatient with Carter's lack of action regarding the hostages. Kennedy would exploit the dissatisfaction with the Carter regime and would finally be able to attack his strategy in Iran. In April he would score major victories in Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Michigan as Carter's approval ratings dropped once again. Then on the twenty-fifth, they would collapse following a disastrous attempt to rescue the hostages that would result in the loss of six helicopters and the deaths of eight American personnel. Kennedy was quick to pounce on Carter's failures and called for a debate with Carter. He had called for one in January, however, Carter had been able to ignore it due to his revived popularity, but following the failed rescue attempt his refusal to attend a debate with Kennedy started to hurt his polling numbers even further. Without any major gaffes during his campaign, more democratic voters started to abandon Carter and vote for Kennedy, and in May he scored more wins in Colorado, Washington DC, Maryland, Nebraska, and Nevada while Carter struggled to win outside of the South. Desperate to put an end to Kennedy's campaign before the convention, Carter embarked on a major risk. He finally gave in to Kennedy's demand for a debate, but instead of debating him, he would let his Vice President Walter Mondale go agaisnt him. Mondale had done a good job in the past of defending him and Carter believed that he would do much better in a debate agaisnt his opponent than he would. He was sure that Mondale's warm Hubert Humphrey-esque charm would be better suited agaisnt the charismatic Kennedy than his own aloof and quiet personality would. He could also continue with his rose garden strategy and could focus on the Iranian crisis without getting bogged down in the primary fight. Kennedy eagerly agreed and the debate was held just two days before the June 3 primaries in Cleveland Ohio. As Carter watched the debate it quickly became apparent that his strategy had horribly backfired. Mondale did his best to defend Carter while he chastised Kennedy for exploiting the Iranian hostage crisis for his own benefit, but Kennedy quickly hit back and hurled attacks at the absent Carter, while largely ignoring Mondale. Toward the end of the debate, he would unleash his most damaging attack agaisnt Carter saying,

"If President Carter doesn't have the courage to debate me himself, how is he going to be able to face whoever the Republican nominee is? I guarantee you he won't be able to send Vice President Mondale in his place during a national debate."

(Ted Kennedy and Walter Mondale before the debate in Cleveland)

The results from the debate would be demonstrated in the June Primaries where Kennedy would narrow the lead between him and Carter even further by winning California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, South Dakota, and Rhode Island. By the time of the final contest in July Carter was only ahead of Kennedy by four percent with 46 percent of the vote compared to Kennedy's 42 percent. As the convention started on August 11th in Madison Square Garden no one knew whether the nominee would be Carter or Kennedy. While he hadn't succeeded in making the convention open, it would become so if Carter failed to win on the first ballot. With both candidates in a dead heat, many delegates attempted to draft Secretary of State Edmund Muskie however he declined to openly run. Many party leaders wished he had as Kennedy and Carter's supporters battled each other, some even engaging in fist fights as the convention quickly became the most violent and disorderly since the 1968 convention in Chicago. Despite Kennedy's efforts, Carter would barely win on the first ballot, yet even then the fight was still not over. The party's platform remained hotly in contention. Kennedy several days before had issued an ultimatum to Carter that he would only support him if he embraced some economically liberal policies, like a jobs guarantee, and a stimulus package. Carter would have none of it, however. Furious at Kennedy for his antics during the convention and the primaries he told his delegates to vote down all of Kennedy's proposed planks which led to all of them except the Stimulus plan being struck down. Outraged, a thousand of Kennedy's delegates, 30 percent of the total delegates of the convention walked out of the building and refused to endorse Carter. Complete disaster was only avoided by Kennedy's endorsement of Carter on the final day of the convention. His speech would cause the demoralized delegates to cheer as he finished, and it seemed as though the wounds caused during the primary could finally be healed. That was until Ted Kennedy said his final line of the speech, "Vote your conscious." In effect he had permitted his supporters to not vote for Carter. As he exited the podium Carter went up to shake his hand, but a still furious Kennedy walked past him in front of the whole convention prompting boos from the Carter delegates and cheers from what few Kennedy delegates were still in the hall. After Kennedy's rebuff Carter would give his keynote speech which would be a complete disaster and by the time the convention was over the party was less united than it had been before it. While democrats across the country were demoralized and disgusted and Republicans were amused and triumphant, one man sensed an opportunity.

Map of the Democratic Primary Results

Jimmy Carter-Red
Ted Kennedy-Blue
Uncommitted-Green

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter 6: The End of the Primaries

“Take Sherman and cube it,” George H.W. Bush, referencing William T. Sherman's refusal to serve as the president in 1884 when asked by reporters if he'd accept the position of vice president.

March seemed to be the month of Anderson. After he had beaten Bush and Reagan in Vermont and Massachusetts he had gone back home to Illinois to prepare for the primary on the 18th in the state. His return to Rockford must have felt like Napoleon's arrival in Paris following Austerlitz as crowds of mostly young enthusiastic people greeted the man whom they had not known was their congressman until a month ago. His grassroots movement had grown vastly since New Hampshire and now with his string of victories on the East Coast, he went to work once more, although it would not be nearly as difficult as it had been earlier in the campaign. He now had campaign offices across the state and volunteers willing to go door to door to gather votes for the man who the press now dubbed, "The Republican Eugene McCarthy," due to his support from young people and small donors. His newfound popularity did not make Anderson lazy though, as he campaigned across the state from the rural north to Chicago and the southern farmlands. He had his native state all to himself for a whole week as Reagan and Connolly had fought in the south and it wasn't until the twelfth that Reagan had finally appeared in the state. Connolly had decided to ignore the state knowing that his southern populism would have no appeal in Anderson's backyard and he instead focused on preparing for the Louisiana primary. Bush had also decided to avoid the state. He would have liked to have campaigned there if only to spoil Anderson and allow Reagan to win, but his campaign was too broke to allow for such vindictiveness. Gathering what few supporters he had, he decided to make a last stand in the native region of his family, Connecticut. So for the first time, Anderson and Reagan would face each other alone. Media coverage of the race would explode as columnists wondered who would win between the liberal maverick and the conservative icon. The candidates for their part would take a deeply personal interest in the race, Anderson, since he represented the state in Congress, and Reagan since it was his first home. Although Anderson had strong support in the state, he was initially regarded as the underdog due to Reagan's rebounding support within the party and the potential moderate split between him and Bush. However, on the day of the primary, they would be proven wrong as Anderson beat the Gipper by 6 points with 47 percent of the vote, to Reagan’s 41 percent, followed by Connolly with 7 percent, and Bush with 5 percent. Following his victory in the state, Anderson gave a celebratory speech even more jubilant than the one in New Hampshire as his family and friends accompanied him on stage, while Reagan scolded his campaign manager William Casey behind closed doors.

(John and Keke Anderson after watching the results return from the Illinois primary)

After basking in his victory, Anderson wasted no time as he flew back to New England to finally finish off the other centrist in the race. His opponent's fall from grace had been dramatic, following New Hampshire. Once the hero of national moderate and liberal republicans almost all of them had jumped ship to the Anderson campaign following his losses. His candidacy ever afterward had been treated with apathy at best and like a joke at worst. Yet despite this fact, the primary in Connecticut would be no cakewalk. Bush had been in the state for nearly a month and had the support of almost the entirety of the state GOP officials, most of whom had in one way or another been involved with the Bush family in some way. While Bush was running low on support from donors he had no problem spending his oil money to finance his campaign. He also had been souring the voter's perception of Anderson in the state, releasing attack ads agaisnt him for his similarity with Carter as well as his past. Bush had a particularly fun time informing voters that Anderson had in the 1960s introduced a constitutional amendment that would, "recognize the law and authority of Jesus Chris over the United States." When he arrived in the state he found himself in the same position that Bush had found himself in New Hampshire and Reagan had found himself in South Carolina. With a little less than a week until the primary, Bush had outmaneuvered and outspent him significantly. Anderson would likely have lost the state if it had not been for the effort of one man, Lowell Weicker. Having abandoned his earlier bid for the presidency, he had thrown his full weight behind Anderson following New Hampshire, determined to let a liberal Republican finally have control over the party. He had never cared much for Bush, viewing him as only slightly less radical than Reagan (He had been an avid Goldwater supporter in 1964 after all), and when it looked as though Bush might carry his state, he came out swinging agaisnt the son of Prescott Bush crisscrossing the region dozens of the time while appearing with Anderson while he went after Bush for his conservatism and his negativity in Anderson often saying,

"Never vote for a man whose only position is to attack the other guy."

While nowhere near as influential as Strom Thurmond had been in South Carolina, Weicker's attacks had their effect on voters, and on primary day the final nail in the coffin was put in George Bush's campaign as he came in second to Anderson with 33 percent of the vote to Anderson's 35 while Reagan came in third with 32 percent. His last hope of making a comeback finished Bush finally dropped out, although he implied that he would fight on at the convention as he declined to endorse any candidate.

(Weicker stumping on behalf of Anderson in a rally in New Haven)

Yet despite all of Anderson's increasing star power, Reagan would not falter. Despite not winning any state in March besides Florida he was able to win almost all of New Yorks's delegates at the end of the month and by April it was clear that he was frontrunner again, despite the media dutifully reporting Anderson's wins in Wisconsin, Maine, and most surprisingly Pennsylvania where the normally jovial Reagan had lost temper at his campaign staff following his loss. However, there was no doubt that the gap between the other candidates and him was widening as he won double the number of contests of Anderson and while Connolly had won agaisnt Reagan in Lousiana, Reagan's support in the south was once again starting to surpass Connolly's as he crushed him in the Missouri Primary. This would become even more abundantly clear following the May 3rd and 6th primaries where Reagan won every single contest except Washington D.C. which Anderson won and Texas which Connolly very narrowly won (It has been rumored that Bush secretly helped his old rival in the state so that the convention could be deadlocked). While Anderson had support in New England and the Upper Midwest, and Connolly in the deep south, Reagan was sweeping the West, the Upper South, and the Lower Midwest. Both realized that they had no shot of winning the race outright which meant that the only way they could win, would be to garner enough delegates to prevent Reagan from winning on the first ballot. While Connolly had no qualms about attempting to deprive the winner of the popular vote of the nomination, Anderson did. Not only would it contradict his entire campaign message of good government and honesty, it would destroy his reputation. Even in the unlikely scenario of him winning the Republican nomination through backroom deals, he realized his chances of winning the election would be greatly diminished as conservatives would loathe him and they would either sit the election out or run a third-party candidate to stop him from becoming president. With this in mind, he refused all of Connolly's covert offers of a temporary alliance to stop Reagan. But that still left the question of his candidacy unanswered. What would he do when and if he lost the race to Reagan? After winning Maryland, just a single point ahead of Reagan, he eventually made a decision. If he did not win both the Michigan and Oregon primaries on the 20th he would drop out. With Michigan being the home of Gerald Ford and being known for its centrism and with the recent endorsement of the popular Oregon senator Mark Hatfield, Anderson was confident he could win both states. Despite his efforts though he would fall short. He would win Michigan comfortably but would lose Orgeon by almost ten points. The next day he ended his campaign, abandoning his long-sought effort to become the Republican nominee. Everyone was shocked at his announcement including Reagan, who was jubilant since his nomination was all but assured. Connolly meanwhile was livid, lashing out at everyone and everything at his ranch, and was reported to have said, "If that stupid Yankee had stayed in the race until July he could have been my damn vice president!" Connolly knew that the race was over, but his hubris made him stay in it until the Kentucky primary on the 27th of May where he lost to Reagan in a landslide. The next day he endorsed Reagan and the last opposition to the California governor dissipated. Conservatives across the country celebrated and it seemed as though Goldwater's loss in 1964 would finally be avenged. All eyes would be on the Gipper, until the first of June. After he had dropped out, Anderson had returned home and had thought about his next course of action. He was depressed at the thought of the nation having to choose between Carter and Reagan, a failing president and an arch-reactionary. So it was with this in mind that he made his fateful announcement the day of the debate between Mondale and Kennedy in his hometown of Rockwell.

"My friends my departure from the Republican race is just the beginning of a national movement. It is with this in mind that I quote the words of HG Welles, "An election should be the celebration of democracy," and my supporters response to my campaign indicates that this is a celebration and so I announce that I will seek the presidency of the United States as an independent candidate."

(John Anderson announcing his re-entrance into the race)

Results of the 1980 Republican Primaries

Ronald Reagan-55% (Red)
John Anderson-26% (Yellow/Gray)
John Connolly-13% (Green)
George H.W. Bush-5% (Blue)

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter 7: Chaos in Detroit

"Jesse Helms wants me to move to the right, Lowell Weiker wants me to move to the left, and Teddy Kennedy wants me to move back to California," an entry in Ronald Reagan's diary.

(Ronald Reagan accepting the Republican Nomination)

There was not a happier man in June 1980 than Ronald Reagan. After the many trials and tribulations of the Republican primary, he had come out on top. Connolly and Anderson had dropped out and on June 3rd, he had secured enough delegates to become the presumptive nominee after winning his native California. There would be no mad rush to secure enough delegates to avoid a brokered convention and all that awaited him was his coronation in Detroit on July 14th. The party's establishment that had once despised him had finally fully united behind him as he secured the endorsements of men like Connolly, Bush, and Baker in stark contrast to the civil war being fought within the Democratic Party. As he watched the race between Kennedy and Carter, Reagan could not help but be reminded of the race between Roosevelt and Taft in 1912. While he didn't expect Kennedy to run as a third-party candidate if he lost to Carter he doubted that the Democrats would ever be united enough to defeat him. He was so optimistic in fact, that he remained completely unworried about his former rival. Anderson's re-entry into the race had been a shock to political pundits and had made front-page news. Any notions that his campaign would simply be a vanity affair or a protest vote were shattered when a Gallup poll showed that Anderson was supported by as many as 24 percent of voters. With high levels of dissatisfaction with Reagan's conservatism among moderate Republicans many in Reagan's campaign became worried that Anderson's centrism would draw away large numbers of potential voters and hand the election to Carter. Over a quarter of primary voters had voted for him after all. However, Reagan himself was largely unconcerned, because he had a plan which he believed would rally the moderate wing of the party to his campaign and would delegate Anderson to the pages of history. However, his plan was dependent on the cooperation of someone who was at best hesitant to agree to it.

(Ford remained cold towards Reagan following his loss)

The relationship between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan was far from warm. Ford had not forgotten how Reagan had tried to steal the nomination from him in 1976 and he still partially blamed him for his loss to Carter in that year due to his razor-thin losses in Ohio and Mississippi. Despite never wanting the presidency originally, he had never given up the idea of returning to his old job and he would have ran in 1980 had he believed that he could have beaten Reagan. As the Republican primaries unfolded he had been tempted to endorse first Bush, and then Anderson to stop Reagan, but he decided to stay neutral hoping for a brokered convention. However, when Anderson put an end to that plan by dropping out in May he had reluctantly endorsed Reagan. It was then that Reagan hatched perhaps one of the most unusual schemes ever thought of by a presidential candidate. Meeting with Ford at his Palm Springs home in June, Reagan proposed a dream ticket, that Ford would go back to the vice presidency under Reagan. While Ford was taken aback, he remained cool to the offer and declined it. This did not stop Reagan who throughout June sent more offers to Ford over the vice presidential slot as representatives from the Reagan campaign negotiated with old Ford loyalists like Dick Cheney and Henry Kissinger. By the time the Republican convention started, it seemed as though, Ford was warming to the idea, but then on the first night of the Republican convention, he blindsided Reagan with a counteroffer. In exchange for joining the ticket, he wanted it to be a "co-presidency". He did not want to return to the white house to be a powerless figurehead like he had been during the Nixon administration and he wanted significant control over foreign policy in the administration. He also wanted numerous Ford loyalists in the cabinet with Kissenger being made Secretary of State while Alan Greenspan would be made the Secretary of the Treasury. While Reagan knew he needed Ford to give him moderate support in the Midwest as well as to weaken Anderson's independent campaign he was unwilling to cede so much power away. As both men became unwilling to compromise it became clear that the dream ticket would not work. With Ford out of the picture, Reagan's optimism had started to falter. Ford was the only person who could have united both the moderates and conservatives in the party, but his departure meant that Reagan would have a far less appealing running mate. Working all night to draft a running mate, he made a last-minute shortlist that consisted of the governor of Indiana Richard Lugar, the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, the Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker, New York Congressman Jack Kemp, and the chairman of the convention Guy Vander Jagt. While some of Reagan's advisors like Roger Stone advised him to pick the more conservative Kemp, Reagan realized that he would have to pick someone more moderate. George Bush was suggested, but Reagan shot the idea down remembering how he had crashed and burned in the primaries. Ultimately he decided to go with Howard Baker who eagerly accepted.

(Reagan before announcing Baker as his vice presidential pick)

On the surface, he seemed like a perfect choice. A moderate from Tennessee he had appeal in both the North and the South. However just like Reagan's choice of Richard Schweiker had backfired in 1976, so did Bakers. As Reagan announced his choice at the convention, many conservative delegates were infuriated. They remembered how in 1978 he had supported the Panema Canal Treaty which had returned the Panema Canal to Panema earning him the ire of hawks in both parties. The issue had killed his campaign and had caused him to lose the moderate vote to Anderson an unknown congressman and Bush a man who hadn't even been able to win a senate election in Texas. That alone would not have made his selection unacceptable to hardline Conservatives, but another one of Baker's positions certainly did. His record on abortion horrified Evangelicals who had just started to support Reagan and they could not stomach his support of federally funded abortions. It didn't help that the National Abortion Rights League had given him the highest pro-choice rating of any senator that year. What made things even worse for Reagan and Baker was that Reagan had sent a telegram to the National Pro-Life Political Action Committee in February saying that he would choose a pro-life running mate. The long-forgotten promise had come back to bite Reagan as many in the party rallied to oppose Baker. Working in the shadows to support the movement was John Connally.

(Connally and his wife at the convention)

Connally had expected to be nominated or at least considered for the vice presidency following his strong showing in the primaries and his subsequent endorsement of Reagan following his loss in Kentucky. He had spent most of June campaigning in Texas and across the South for Reagan but had not received any serious consideration from Reagan. Following the announcement of Baker, he secretly allied with southern delegates to draft the arch-conservative Jesse Helms in the hope of deadlocking the first ballot so that he could emerge as a compromise candidate on the second ballot. He was helped by other delegates who attempted to draft Jack Kemp and Richard Lugar, depriving Baker of support from many Western and Northern States as well as most of the South. The effort would fail, but several hundred delegates would vote for Helms as well as for Kemp and Lugar and the deep south would vote almost entirely for Helms. Even though Baker was nominated Reagan was in no mood to celebrate. He had infuriated the very people he needed to win the election with his pick and they had nearly been able to stop him from being nominated, something that was unheard of. He briefly considered dropping Baker and replacing him with someone more palatable to the religious right like Richard Lugar, but he knew that would only make him look weak and indecisive like it had with McGovern and Eagleton in 1972. He instead met with Helms who was able to make the party platform much more conservative than even before and any pretense of Reagan moderating was gone as the platform pledged to fight the ERA and to establish a constitutional amendment banning abortion.

(Jesse Helms and Ronald Reagan meeting to discuss the party platform)

Reagan's rightward turn had pleased his core supporters but had angered the party's moderates including Baker as they watched the party platform being handed over to extremists and religious fanatics. Echoes of Barry Goldwater and the 1964 convention filled the hall before Reagan finally gave his acceptance speech. Luckily for him, Reagan's charisma and sunny optimism could win just about anyone over and as he finished his speech which focused on hope for the future he received thunderous applause. Yet despite the high note as the convention ended the wounds that had been caused by the fight between the moderates and conservatives had still not healed.

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter Eight: The Two Mavericks

"The people have spoken — the bastards,"-Mo Udall

(Anderson speaking in Philidelphia)

Not even John Anderson could have imagined how far his campaign would go when he first entered the race in April of 1979. He had risen from obscurity and garnered a second-place finish in the Republican primaries against the likes of John Connally, George H. W. Bush, and Howard Baker and had almost defeated Reagan himself. But even his defeat in the primaries had not put an end to his campaign. The thought of having to support either Carter or Reagan had scared a great deal of voters and Anderson's poll numbers had surged as he announced his independent bid. Throughout June and July, he never polled less than 20 percent and at one point he was polling at around 26 percent. Yet despite polling better than any other third-party candidate in recent memory his campaign faced seemingly insurmountable challenges. Unlike Carter and Reagan, he was not automatically qualified for the 51 ballots in the election and he had almost no fundraising money compared to the other candidates. His late entry in the race meant he would have to spend what little money he had to get ballot access in all fifty states and Washington D.C., a long process that was slowed even further by both the Reagan and Carter campaigns who attempted to smother his campaign before it could become a real threat. While their efforts failed Anderson's challenges had only begun. The Republican and Democratic parties had millions of dollars ready to be spent and used while Anderson had no such financial luxuries. Most of the campaign money he had gathered had been used in the Republican primaries and he found it difficult to raise money initially. He was not independently wealthy and he had no large special interest groups supporting his campaign as the usual wealthy powerbrokers in elections such as unions and big businesses were firmly supporting Carter and Reagan respectably. However, Anderson's fundraising deficit would not be a death knell to his candidacy as money would finally start to pour into his campaign from two sources. The first was from small donors who had helped to start his grassroots movement. They came mainly from suburban voters and young people who liked Anderson's centrism and outsider appeal. The other source was from Hollywood. Even though he was a Republican Anderson had received the endorsements of many prominent Hollywood liberals starting with Paul Newman who had been attracted to the anti-establishment candidate like he had been attracted to Eugene McCarthy in 1968. Many others had joined Newman including Norman Lear and Cliff Robertson who admired Andersons Quixotic's campaign. As he became closer with Newman during his campaign Anderson turned to his new friend to help with his fundraising struggles and Newman obliged. He soon convinced many of his other Hollywood friends to support Anderson and he hosted fundraisers for him throughout Hollywood which late-night hosts were quick to make fun of. Yet even with ballot access and increased fundraising Anderson would still be outcompeted by the other candidates in one critical area, coverage. Despite being well received by the press during his run in the primaries, media coverage of his campaign dropped significantly once the initial shock of his re-entrance into the race died down. Nobody really thought that he could win despite his high poll numbers and the majority of the media coverage in the race focused on Reagan and Carter. It also didn't help that both major candidates completely ignored Anderson and treated him like a non-entity. Things would get worse for him as the Republican and Democratic conventions unfolded and media coverage focused almost exclusively on them in their election coverage. As July turned into August Anderon's poll numbers would drop and he would become desperate. He briefly considered going on an international tour of the Middle East and Western Europe to get more coverage, but he was quickly dissuaded from the idea by his advisors who realized that the tour would cost him valuable time that he would need to campaign and there was no guarantee that the media would even spend much time covering the tour. He instead decided to hold a quasi-convention of his own to gather much-needed attention for his campaign. In the meantime, he spent time barnstorming New England and the Midwest where his poll numbers were the highest as well as holding more fundraisers with Paul Newman and other Hollywood celebrities. As he campaigned he received an unexpected opportunity for publicity. A few days before the Democratic convention in New York, he held a press conference with several key democratic figures including Scoop Jackson and Gary Hart. He would briefly have the opportunity to meet with Ted Kennedy who had arrived at the convention. Still, he quickly declined, not wanting to be seen as meddling in the Democratic convention. The event would generate some coverage and at the convention, many Kennedy supporters would speak about him positively during and after the convention as they fumed at Carter. It was after the convention on August 26th that he would finally announce his choice of running mate. His shortlist would include a wide list of names and would be incredibly ideologically diverse as he considered picking Shirley Chisholm, an incredibly liberal African American congresswoman from New York, Patrick Lucey a moderate Democrat, Edward Brooke the first African American senator since Reconstruction and one of the last liberal Republicans in national politics, and Hugh Carey the Democratic governor of New York and a prominent supporter of Ted Kennedy. However, he ultimately decided to make a gamble as he chose the liberal maverick, Morris K. Udall.

The choice was not a complete surprise as Udall's brother, Stewart Udall, the former Secretary of the Interior had already endorsed Anderson and the two had a good relationship in Congress. He also would bring with him the support of many former Kennedy supporters who held little loyalty to the current president. Once Udall accepted the position he would also bring with him the support of many other prominent democrats who had supported Kennedy like Kevin White, Barbra Jordan, and Hugh Carey. The pick did have its downside, though. While it galvanized many liberals it turned off many of Anderson's moderate supporters who were dismayed at how left-wing Udall was. To neutralize the potential loss of support among centrists Anderson would meet with Udall to discuss their platform like Nixon had with Rockefeller twenty years previously. While the two largely agreed on social issues they remained at odds on fiscal ones. The two reached a compromise on economic issues with Udall agreeing to support Anderson’s proposals so long as they weren’t too conservative. In a news conference after their meeting, Udall promised to enthusiastically support Anderson and his platform, true to his word. A few days later, Anderson would finally be able to hold his convention. He decided to host it in Philadelphia because of its connection with the American Revolution as well as the fact that it was the sight of the Democratic Convention in 1948 when Harry Truman had been running as the underdog. In the meantime, he frantically sought to gain endorsements and speakers which he was mostly successful at. His old friend Lowell Weicker was able to bring several liberal Republicans to the Anderson campaign including Anderson's former rival for the GOP primaries Senator Larry Pressler of South Dakota, Edward Brooke, and New York senator Jacob Javits who withdrew his endorsement from Reagan. By the time the convention began, he had a sizable amount of endorsements from figures in both parties as well as from many celebrities. It would only last for a day, but Anderson would finally be able to receive the thing he craved, wide-scale national coverage. The speeches from the convention hall would be widely covered and besides Anderson's four would particularly stand out. The first was Larry Pressler's speech about his role in the Abscam Investigations in which he had refused to take bribes from undercover FBI agents and how he saw the same honesty and integrity in Anderson. He was followed by Paul Newman who gave a speech about Anderson's outsider credibilities and how he would inspire a new era in American politics, and then by Edward Brooke who focused his speech on how both parties had abandoned the Civil Rights Movement and how Anderson would be in a unique position to help African Americans, and finally Mo Udall's keynote speech in which he highlighted Anderon's social liberalism and qualifications as a candidate through his usual mix of charisma and witt. When it was finally Anderson's turn to speak he did not disappoint as he unveiled the party platform in which he declared support for the ERA, the right to an abortion, stronger involvement in NATO, campaign finance reform, fiscal responsibility, and most controversially a gasoline tax to make America energy independent and social security solvent. His speech emphasized the themes of change and unity and he also incorporated a healthy amount of anti-establishment rhetoric into it. By the end of Anderson's speech, the hall had erupted into cheers as the delegates marched under the banner of the newly formed National Unity Party with John Anderson at the head of the ticket. For the first time in American politics, it seemed as though the American people really had an alternative to the two-party system.

(Despite not being as charismatic as some of the other speakers, Pressler's speech struck a chord with many delegates as he talked about the influence money had on politics and his own experience with corruption)

(Newman's skill as a Hollywood actor helped him greatly as he gave a memorable speech on the hope Anderson gave him towards the future)

(Brookes's speech focused on his rise to the senate and Anderson's flawless record on civil rights)

(Udall's keynote speech would generate almost as many laughs as cheers as he praised Anderson for his courage and independence)

(Anderson's acceptance speech would be widely praised compared to Carter's fumbling pessimistic speech in New York and Reagan's speech In Detroit which was very light on substance).

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter Nine: The First Debates

"For those of you who don't understand Reaganomics, it's based on the principle that the rich and the poor will get the same amount of ice. In Reaganomics, however, the poor get all of theirs in winter," Mo Udall

By the beginning of September, there was no longer any doubt that the election of 1980 would be a three-way race. Following the convention Anderson immediately surged in the polls. For the next few weeks, he would never poll below 25%, and at one point his support capped at 30%, just two points behind Carter and five behind Reagan. Due to the efforts of Mo Udall and his other key supporters, he was amassing a winning coalition of centrists, liberal Republicans, Suburbanites, Women, and Kennedy Democrats who were all united behind their disgust of the two most unpopular major party nominees since Stephen Douglas and Abraham Lincoln in the election of 1860. It was a large enough coalition to make him qualify for the debates as he had far surpassed the 15 percent threshold needed by any national candidate. The first one would be held on September 21st and would be hosted by the League of Women Voters. The only question was whether the other candidates would participate. Reagan had made it known that he was willing to share the stage with Anderson thinking that he was more of a problem for Carter than himself since his hold over conservatives was rock solid. Carter was a different story, however. Throughout the summer he had been hoping that Anderson's campaign would internally implode or at least become weaker as the public became bored with his candidacy and moved back to the reality of the two-party system. As a result, he ignored his candidacy as he waited for the inevitable to occur yet the opposite had happened. There had been no internal power struggle between his Republican and Democratic supporters in his campaign like there had been in 1936 with the Union Party and there had been no Curtis LeMay "I don't believe the world will end if we explode a nuclear weapon," moment either. Then after he had finally defeated Kennedy and the liberals had finally started to rally behind him, Anderson had chosen Mo Udall of all people to be his vice president and they were starting to abandon him. The last thing Carter needed was for Anderson to get any more attention so he announced that he would boycott the debate. He was immediately condemned by both the Reagan and Anderson campaigns and even the normally liberal media could not help but criticize Carter as his favorability ratings among the American people declined even further. However, Carter believed that the damage he was receiving would pale to the suffering he would experience if he attended the debate. He would let the two of them debate while he watched as Anderson would finally fade away and he would be left alone to debate with Reagan at the next debate in October. Yet his opponents had other plans. Anderson was not just content to debate Reagan and he and his campaign would raise holy hell over Carter's boycott every chance they got. Anderson was able to use his ever-expanding war chest to attack Carter almost exclusively through most of September which would lead Udall to quip, "It's just a shame that Carter can't skip the election." But despite all the protests that Anderson made it is unlikely that Carter would have agreed to the debate without the efforts of one man, Ronald Reagan. While his advisors were concerned about Anderson taking away Liberal Republican support from the campaign, the candidate himself was unconcerned. Firstly he had Howard Baker as his VP who he was sure could real in the moderate Republicans and secondly, he was sure that Anderson was a much greater problem for Carter than himself despite some of his advisors telling him otherwise. Anderson's strong showing in the primaries did nothing to change his mind as Reagan still thought of him as just another liberal. It was with this in mind that he not only vocally criticized Carter's decision, he also reached out to Anderson himself. The two would put aside their differences and would hold a joint press conference a week before the scheduled debate on September 14th and Reagan would fatefully announce that if Carter would not attend the debate with both himself and Anderson he would not attend. It was then that Carter knew that his decision had backfired immensely just like it had in June with the debacle in Cleveland. Carter's support in the polls would drop considerably following the conference and even many of his fellow democrats would finally criticize him. With no other option than to lose even more faith with the American public Carter would finally agree to join the debate a few days later.

(The news conference with Anderson and Reagan at the sight of the debate in Baltimore would forever alter the race)

After his gambit paid off, Anderson would have little time to celebrate as he spent the next week preparing for the debate. With all the additional campaign donations he was receiving he was able to get an ample amount of debate prep, yet there was still something wrong. Despite all of his intelligence and knowledge, he was similar to Richard Nixon in terms of his debating skills. While he wasn't socially awkward or overly nervous his speaking style was passionate but he often came across as angry and self-righteous when he didn't mean to be. Luckily for him, he had been endorsed by some of the most skilled debaters in either party who were more than willing to help him. He set to work with his campaign team as well as Mo Udall and Ed Brooke who helped him refine his charisma and be prepared to face his respective opponents. Udall would act as Carter while Brooke acted as Reagan in the practice sessions. By the time the debate rolled around, Anderson felt prepared and would enter it confidently like he had in the first Republican debate in Iowa as the three candidates geared for their first showdown.

(Anderson and Reagan waiting for Carter to arrive)

The debate would be an unmitigated disaster for Carter. He knew his debate skills could never surpass Reagan or Anderson so he just hoped that he would be able to come out of the debate relatively unscathed with his calm and kind demeanor, but these hopes would be misplaced. He would be the last candidate to arrive for the debate in Baltimore and was almost late for it. As the cameras rolled and the debate started his stressed and tired figure was on full display to the American public. After the debate, many commentators would note the similarities between Carter and Nixon, although unlike Nixon both those who listened on radio or watched on television agreed that he got trounced. Even before the first question was asked Reagan took the attack to Carter during his opening statement and repeated the ploy he made in Nassau and criticized him for not having the courage to debate with Anderson even though he was polling better than any third-party candidate in history. Carter knew he was going to be attacked for this yet his response was still meandering and he attempted to paint his refusal to join the debate as necessary since unlike the other candidates he was working actively to bring the hostages home from Iran and manage the energy crisis. Then as Anderson gave his opening address he would say the most memorable line of the night,

"President Carter if you were doing your job competently I wouldn't be here."

Things only went downhill from there for Carter. The moderators could not have chosen a worse opening subject than inflation, for the president as he alienated both liberals and moderates as he claimed that his tax cuts and proposed stimulus would help to combat the issue. As soon as he finished his response Reagan pointed out Carter's obvious flip flop reminding the voters that he had opposed a stimulus package at the Democratic Convention. He then criticized the plan itself as wasteful saying, "If you want the American people to get their money back, give them a tax cut. Don't take money out of their pockets just so you redistribute it back to them." When it was Anderson's turn to respond he attacked both Carter's and Reagan's proposals for their fiscal irresponsibility and pointed out that it was impossible to reduce the amount of revenue the government took in while increasing spending. He then laid out his controversial gasoline tax plan to the American public and was able to frame it in a positive light as a way to both increase funding for social security as well as help solve the energy crisis. Carter and Reagan both attacked his plan, but Anderson had been well prepared on the subject and deflected both candidates' criticisms of the plan by reminding the voters that Carter could neither solve the energy crisis nor the problems that seniors were facing with social security and deflecting Reagan's critiques by informing listeners that Reagan's plan would cut social security. As the debate moved onto other topics such as conservation, the draft, and urban decay, Carter continued to fumble his way through the debate. Anderson and Reagan indirectly and directly tied Carter to all of the major issues that were facing the country and Carter did a poor job defending himself. Despite a few respites such as when all three candidates agreed that a peacetime draft was a bad idea and when Carter was able to point out his record on conservation and how he had protected millions of acres of the Alaskan wilderness from drilling. Yet ultimately in the election people cared about jobs and not the environment. The final subject of the debate was abortion where Reagan came out as the clear winner as he was successfully able to defend his pro-life beliefs while he brought up Anderson's record and his amendment in the 1960s which would have made Christianity the national religion. Anderson did not give a great defense of his role with the amendment, but he was able to pivot and attack Carter for his wishy-washness on the issue while establishing himself as the most pro-choice candidate. As the debate ended it was clear there were two winners and one loser. While Reagan had clearly won the debate with his acting skills and charm, Anderson had been able to hold his own and he came across as the reasonable alternative to both major party candidates and was able to double down on his anti-establishment rhetoric which had helped him so greatly in the primaries. Yet nothing good came out for Carter. He came across as weak and indecisive and many traditional democrats that were reluctantly supporting him started to have second thoughts. This was evident when Gallup released a poll that would show the unthinkable. Anderson for the first time was polling in second place

Reagan/Baker: 36%
Anderson/Udall: 31%
Carter/Mondale: 29%

(Throughout the debate Carter seemed nervous, especially on the issue of inflation)

"Let's turn inflation over to the Post Office. That'll slow it down," one of Mo Udall's many quips during the vice presidential debate.

(Mo Udall meeting in Baltimore before the debate with Walter Mondale and Bob Beckel)


Although far less important the vice presidential debate was far more entertaining than the presidential one. This was thanks to Mo Udall who was perhaps the funniest man in politics and was proving to be a very capable vice presidential pick. After Carter had agreed to join the debate with the League of Women Voters Udall had called upon Baker and Mondale to join him for a vice presidential debate. While both Baker and Mondale were reluctant to agree to a debate, Mondale would relent after Carter's horrible performance, hoping to get at least some redemption for his boss. Not wanting to be embarrassed and attacked like Carter was, Baker reluctantly agreed as well. The debate would once again hosted by the League of Women Voters on October 1st, once again in Baltimore. The debate was much more casual than the last one and would be held in a discussion-type setting instead. The main topics of the debate would be similar to the last debate, foreign policy and the Salt ll Treaty, abortion, and inflation having the most air time. Udall would steal the show with his one-liners as Mondale and Baker struggled to keep up and both at various points often broke into laughs themselves. Mondale would do his best to attack Udall for his supposed opportunism and his defection from the Democratic party, but Udall wasn't fazed and he explained that in his view Carter had betrayed social liberals across the country with his failure to pass the ERA and that Anderson had better and more pragmatic solutions for the energy crisis than Carter. Mondale attempted to launch more attacks against Udall, but they all fell flat as Udall disarmed him and the audience with his wit. Baker would almost fade into the background of the debate, his much more quiet and introverted personality was ill-suited against the warm and extroverted personas of Mondale and Baker. He would briefly attempt to try and paint Mondale and Udall as two liberals who had few differences on policy but failed as Udall argued with both Mondale and Baker over Anderson's economic policies. His opposition to the SALT ll treaty wouldn't do him any favors either as both Mondale and Udall attacked him for it and Baker failed to defend his position effectively. On abortion, Baker would be boxed in as both Udall and Mondale reminded him of his past pro-choice votes in the Senate and his support of federally funded abortion, which would lead Baker to claim that he was personally pro-life and regretted some of his votes but that he still believed that abortion was a settled issue, a statement that would anger moderates who were upset at his flip-flopping and infuriate conservatives who believed that abortion was far from a settled issue. As the debate wrapped up, Udall would be asked about his diagnosis with Parkinson's disease and how his handicap would affect his ability to serve as vice president to which he replied,

"Handicap? I'm a one-eyed Mormon Democrat from conservative Arizona … you can't find a higher handicap than that unless of course, you're Jimmy Carter's Vice President or a pro-choice senator from Tennessee."

While both Mondale and Baker would try and correct the record later they could not help but chuckle in that moment along with the audience. While it received significantly less viewership than the previous debate, footage from the debate would be used widely, especially by the Carter and Anderson campaigns and eventually another one. While Udall's remarks would initially be the most memorable from the night, one of Baker's statements would crawl its way back to the public view and would later haunt the Reagan campaign.

(Mondale and Baker meeting to discuss foreign policy in the Senate before the debate)

 

[Fighting Bob]

Chapter 10: The Revolt from the Right, Reagan's Gaffes, and the Fall Campaign of 1980

"How can you consider yourself to be a true conservative when you helped elect John Anderson ?" John Kasich during a debate with Ron Paul in 2008.

(Reagan visiting South Carolina)

Despite the optimism radiating from the Anderson campaign, there seemed to be little doubt among mainstream political circles that the next president would be neither Carter nor Anderson by October, it would be Reagan. While Anderson was likely to garner second place or a close third, he never surpassed Reagan in the polls throughout early October. Centrists were no longer afraid of his seemingly far-right agenda after his skillful debate performance. Though many of his positions were ridiculed and labeled as naive by policy experts Reagan was able to present them in a way as though they were rational and common sense ideas in a way that Barry Goldwater or George Wallace never quite learned how to do. And it wasn't just his sunny optimism propelling him to the West House either. The Left was divided and it seemed as though Reagan had just enough support from moderates to push him over the finish line, especially with Baker as his running mate. With evangelical support in the South and Anderson and Carter vote splitting in the North Reagan would tell his staff confidently that he wouldn't be surprised if he got over four hundred electoral votes, a claim which even the most loyal members of his inner circle had trouble taking seriously. Despite Reagan's naivety, no one could have faulted him for his high expectations and hope as many in the nation braced for his ascendancy to the Oval Office. Yet everything would start to go south, due to the emergence of one congressman from Georgia.

"I am running for the presidency because right now no true conservative candidate is running. Carter and Anderson are both liberals and Reagan is a liberal in conservative clothing," Larry McDonald announcing his candidacy.

(McDonald talking to reporters following his announcement).

Few who knew anything about Larry McDonald were surprised by his decision. Despite being a Democrat he made Francisco Franco seem like a progressive. No Republican in Congress could match his hardline voting record on issues like abortion, education, and defense and he was even a member of the infamous John Birch Society. He took a page right of McCarthyism as he constantly exposed their conspiracy theories regarding secret communist plots to destroy America. So radical was McDonald that he would call the up-and-coming Republican Congressman from his neighboring district, Newt Gingrich, "A Liberal." He had once been a proud supporter of Reagan and had campaigned for him in his primary challenge against Ford in 1976 and again in 1980. Yet as the year went on his discontent with Reagan grew. It all started when he heard that Reagan wanted to have Gerald Ford as his running mate a man McDonald considered to be no better than Nelson Rockefeller who he believed was only slightly better than Satan reincarnated. The way he saw it Reagan was sacrificing his conservative principles to placate the establishment, a move McDonald found to be despicable. The brief hope he held after Reagan announced that he wouldn't pick Ford was followed by rage when Reagan picked someone even worse. Following the selection of Howard Baker as Reagan's VP, McDonald withdrew his endorsement from Reagan and refused to campaign for him. The fact that Reagan had chosen a pro-choice running mate confirmed his suspicions that Reagan was not a true conservative. Yet he had not considered entering the race himself until the vice presidential debate. After witnessing Baker meandering his attempt to needle his way on the issue of abortion followed by his laughter after Udall had called him pro-choice he had had enough. Either Reagan would make Baker reverse his position or he would do something about it. Yet when reporters asked Reagan about Baker's comments he neither criticized him nor reaffirmed his pro-life stance.

"Well, Baker and I agree on most of the issues, and just because we don't see eye to eye on every minor position that doesn't mean I don't think that he'll make a great vice president."

"Minor issue?" McDonald thought. Did Reagan not even have the guts to stand up for the unborn? It was then that McDonald entered the race as an independent candidate on October 11th, asking his friends and fellow congressman Ron Paul to be his running mate. His announcement sent shockwaves across the political world and the dynamics would never be the same. His decision to enter the race at such a late date was a small comfort to Reagan as McDonald had no possibility of getting ballot access in all fifty states as election day was less than a month away. Yet with such devoted followers, McDonald was able to get ballot access where it mattered, across the South and some Western states. Funding was also not an issue for McDonald. He was a skilled fundraiser and was soon issuing ads attacking Baker's pro-choice views from Virginia to Texas. Notoriety and coverage also weren't hard to come by as the media spent ample time covering his sensationalist campaign and he received endorsements from prominent evangelical pastors like Jim Bakker who were upset with Reagan for choosing Baker. While he never polled more than five percent nationally by election day McDonald's support in several deep southern states reached the double digits. Despite being unfazed in public Reagan was terrified about McDonald. With less support from the Moral Majority and the South he couldn't win outright so he went on the attack. He had his staff do up all the dirt they could find at McDonald yet nothing could stick to him as he remained as popular in the region as George Wallace had been. It was then that Reagan started to overact. In a speech in Jackson Mississippi, he would first call McDonald a racist and a latter-day segregationist and then as his temper flared under the hot southern sun "a Nazi."

(Reagan in Mississippi before going on a tirade against McDonald)

The remarks would completely backfire as he brought more attention to his opponent's campaign and McDonald hammered Reagan for comparing him to Hitler. Reagan would be forced to apologize and his public image would be damaged. Unfortunately for him, he didn't just make gaffes when he talked about McDonald. Several off-the-cuff remarks he made in the North would be laughed out to no end by the press especially when he claimed that "trees cause more pollution than cars." Yet all of his gaffes would pale to the remarks he made in his Native California on October 23rd. In an attempt to bolster his foreign policy credentials, Reagan would announce his anti-ballistic missile system which he referred to as, "STAR WARS," in which he called for for lasers to be used to shoot down nuclear weapons before they reached the United States. His speech would be torn apart by both Anderson's and Carter's campaigns in attack ads that were shown across the country. Reagan had once seemed so presidential yet his remarks made the American Public take him less and less seriously. The only solace he had was that things weren't going very well for Carter either. He still had not gotten the hostages back from Iran while the energy crisis and inflation were still tearing the economy apart. And even worse, Kennedy had still refused to endorse him outright. He refused to campaign with Carter as did many other national Democrats who were secretly or openly backing Anderson after Udall had jumped ship to his campaign. The only candidate who seemed to have his head above water it seemed was Anderson. Despite being heavily attacked by the Carter campaign Anderson remained popular as voters reacted negatively to Carter's pessimism. Towards the end of the month with both his opponents declining in approval Gallup would release a poll that voters just a few weeks prior would not have believed. Anderson was tied with Reagan.

Reagan/Baker: 35%
Anderson/Udall: 35%
Carter/Mondale: 27%
McDonald/Paul: 3%

As Reagan saw the poll he wished he had taken back all his decisions since September. He should have listened to his advisors and Nancy and should have never met with Anderson, he should have just debated him without Carter a move which would have likely delegitimized Anderson, and he should have listened to his advisors when they told him that Anderson was taking as much support from his campaign as Carters. But Reagan was ever the optimist. Another debate would be held on the 28th and in that debate he was sure that he would finally put an end to Anderson's ambitions.